10/8/2025–|Last update: 22:49 (Mecca time)
Russia and Ukraine are running a race to strengthen their positions before the Alaska summit next Friday, which brings together US President Donald Trump and Russian Vladimir Putin, who Washington is seeking to collect his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodimir Zellinski, amid European appeals to participate in the negotiations.
For the third day in a row, the Ukrainian and Russian presidents made phone calls with their allies and partners today, Sunday, days before the upcoming summit between Putin and Trump on Friday in the US state of Alaska.
Zelinski has spoken by 13 foreign leaders during the past three days, including his main European supporters, the United Kingdom, Germany and France. He also called two of Russia’s traditional partners, namely Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.
“It is important to force the joint efforts of the whole world Russia in the end to end its aggression.”
For his part, Putin has spoken with 9 foreign heads of state since last Friday, among them the most close partners, Chinese Xi Jinping, Indian Narendra Modi and Brazilian Luis Inacio Lula da Silva.
He also contacted the presidents of a number of former Soviet republics that have good relations with Moscow, meaning Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.
Participation
While each party continues to contact its allies, JD Vice Vice President said his country is working on setting a date for talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian Folodimir Zellinski.
He added, in an interview with Fox News today, Sunday, that he does not believe that it would be fruitful for Putin to sit with Zelinski before the meeting with Trump.
“Trump is still open to holding a triple summit with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders, but he will currently hold a bilateral meeting at the request of Putin,” the Associated Press quoted a White House official who declined to be named as saying.
For his part, German Chancellor Friedrich Mertz expressed his belief that Zellinski will participate in the Trump and Putin summit next Friday.
“We hope and believe that President Zellinski will participate in this meeting,” Mertz said, in an interview with German official television.
Mirtz said that Berlin “is working closely with Washington to seek to ensure Zilinski’s participation in the talks, and we cannot accept that regional issues between Russia and the United States be discussed or decided at the expense of Europeans and Ukrainians andIt is assumed that the American government sees matters as well. “
It is noteworthy that Putin, a former intelligence officer who has been holding power in Russia for more than 25 years, has ruled out talks with Zelinski at this stage. He stresses that the invasion of Ukraine was necessary to protect Russian speakers in Ukraine as well as for Russia’s security.
European concerns
And in Brussels “Any agreement between Washington and Moscow to end the war in Ukraine must include Ukraine and the European Union,” said European Union Foreign Policy Officer Kaya Calas today, adding that it will hold a meeting of European foreign ministers tomorrow, Monday, to discuss the following steps.
“The United States has the ability to force Russia to negotiate seriously,” Callas said.
“While we are working for a sustainable and just peace, international law is clear, and all the temporary lands are affiliated with Ukraine andThe agreement should not provide a starting point for more Russian aggression on Ukraine, NATO (NATO) and Europe.
The announcement of the Trump-Potin summit, which is absent from in principle, Zeilinski, has sparked the concerns of Kiev’s allies of the possibility of concluding the Donocra deal, forcing it to waive parts of its territory to Russia.
Since then, the Ukrainian president stresses the necessity of his country and its European allies in this process.
European countries joined Ukraine, stressing that peace in the war -torn country cannot be achieved without Kiev.
A statement signed yesterday, the President of the European Union, the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Finland and the United Kingdom, stressed the need for “fair and permanent” peace “, including” strong and reliable “security guarantees.
The statement said: “Ukraine has the freedom to choose its fate. Serious negotiations can only be held in the context of the ceasefire or the reduction of hostilities,” the statement said.
“The path of peace in Ukraine cannot be determined without Ukraine,” the Europeans added. “
In response, Zellinski thanked the European allies in a post on X, and wrote today that “the end of the war must be fair, and I am grateful to everyone who stands next to Ukraine and our people.”